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‘Is a pinstripe suit OK for pupillage interviews?’ 

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By Legal Cheek on

14

Sartorial guidance 👔


In our latest Career Conundrum, a barrister hopeful seeks guidance on whether a pinstripe suit is appropriate attire for pupillage interviews.

“Hello Legal Cheek. With another pupillage application cycle upon us, I wanted to ask whether it’s appropriate to wear a dark navy blue suit with a faint dark grey pinstripe through it. It looks very smart and is not an in-your-face pinstripe like David Dickinson from Bargain Hunt, but at the same time I don’t want it killing my chances at interview. This is my second year of applying and while I don’t want to get ahead of myself, I did manage to secure a few interviews last year and hoping to go one better this year.”

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14 Comments

Notsure

Rich people problems.

Reply Report comment
(5)(11)

2PQE

Literally. I had one suit that i bought from M&S when i was at university applying for jobs. I wish i had the ability to decide which type of suit i wanted to wear at that time…..

Not a problem now though 🙂

Reply Report comment
(2)(0)

DieWorkwear

Fine but please for the love of God don’t wear brown shoes

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(30)(2)

Barrister

Yes

Reply Report comment
(7)(2)

Sir Toryall

If you can avoid it, then wear another suit. Pin-stripe could be seen as out-of-date or too wannabe by an interviewer. It is better to avoid that risk. No-one has an issue with a plain suit.

Reply Report comment
(9)(3)

Pupillage Panel at Commercial Set

I sit on the pupillage panel of a Tier 1 commercial set. In my experience, the interviewers are focusing on what the candidate is saying and how they express themselves, not on the style of the candidate’s suit (irrespective of candidate’s gender).

Personally, I would be very surprised if a fellow interviewer made any kind of post-interview comment about the candidate’s outfit unless the candidate had been wearing something like a pink sequin-covered suit! Wear something that is smart and professional (exercise your best judgement on this), and in which you feel comfortable.

Not everybody can afford a brand-new suit for a job interview. Some candidates may wear a suit which is borrowed or bought second-hand, with limited choice as to the style or pattern of the fabric. We are well aware of this.

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(24)(0)

Sir Toryall

Yes, I get all that. There was a reason the post started “if you can avoid it”. The point is there is a risk. I would really hope in this day and age the risk would be minimal, but it would be prudent to assume it exists.

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(1)(2)

Snowman

I sit on pupillage panels. Firstly please no brown shoes, as for your suit, pinstripe is fine but chalk stripe save for tenancy. Id also leave the waistcoat at home, 3 piece are pure style, i love them but i feel for interview a bit too wannabe – save it for day 1 of your second six. Also please please do a decent tie knot. No issue re button cuff over double cuff. This is all for me important as what it means is we are not distracted by bad sartorial choices and focus on you the person. Good luck to everyone. If you need a good suit cheap look on ebay, ive picked up some wonderful ede & ravenscroft, paul smith and roderick charles suits off there over the years.

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(9)(13)

Eyes wide open

An eye opening response from (presumably) a barrister who appears to confirm that ‘what you look like’ and ‘the kind of suit that you are wearing’ might sway their ‘substantive assessment of whether you will get pupillage at these chambers’. I wonder what other external features might be weighed in that assessment, separate to the content of the answers that the candidate will give to the questions put?

I wholeheartedly agree with Robert’s comment below, namely “If your sartorial choices feature in the mark scheme then you do not want to be a part of that chambers.”

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(1)(0)

Robert

If your sartorial choices feature in the mark scheme then you do not want to be a part of that chambers.

I’d say that the confidence that your clothes give you outweigh the extremely small chance that someone will have an irrational prejudice against a particular cloth style. If it’s a good suit that makes you feel ‘the part’ then I would say ‘go for it’.

The big no-nos would be outfits that would be distracting *in Court*.

The brown shoes thing is of course utterly irrational in the 21st Century, but it is so entrenched as a legal tradition that it probably comes under the heading of a distraction.

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(7)(0)

Barrister 15y call

I sit on pupillage panels. I really can’t see why a suit with a subtle pinstripe would be a problem, as long as it looks smart and professional, and there’s nothing distracting or attention-seeking about the outfit as a whole.

Reply Report comment
(6)(0)

Future Chancery Pupil

I secured pupillage last year.

I wore plain suits, but also a navy double-breasted suit with a ‘Prince of Wales’ cheque, including to a final round I was successful in.

I did, out of caution, dress more planely for the sets I thought may have a more conservative opinion on dress, however.

By the sounds of it, your suit with a plain tie, and with black shoes (as others have suggested) would be perfectly sufficient.

If any set takes issue with a suit that is appropriate for court and that a client would perceive as professional, then they are reflecting a side to the Bar it would do well to leave in the past.

Moreover, if this is your only suit, wear it with confidence to allow your talent to do the talking. Not every aspiring barrister can afford multiple suits, and sets should know this, so don’t be insecure if you have to wear it in multiple rounds. This plagued my mind in TC interviews, and it shouldn’t have.

Best of luck!

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(3)(0)

Steve French

What’s all the fuss about brown shoes. I’ve heard it before but no one’s ever explained it to me.

Is it the legal equivalent of wearing SI?

Anyway, if they help to distinguish me from pinstripe-wearing pompous barristers, so much the better.

Yours truly,

A brown-shoed lowly common solicitor

Reply Report comment
(1)(3)

Abi- Pupillage Panel Member

I have no problem with them whatsoever and neither do my colleagues. I think the chair of our panels last year was wearing one.

Reply Report comment
(0)(0)

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